Endgame
by onelildustbunni
Summary: The world is ending...but something else is beginning. Set around NXM #20-36-ish. Hellion   X-23.
1. Chapter 1

****TITLE: ****Endgame**  
><strong>STARRING: <strong>**Hellion/X-23**  
><strong>UNIVERSE: <strong>**AU**  
><strong>RATING: <strong>**M**  
><strong>SUMMARY:<strong>** The world is ending...but something else is beginning. Set around NXM #20-36-ish.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"Thiz iz the abzolude, fuckingk worzd day ofb by lifbe!" The boy grumbles to himself as he raises his arm to shield his face. The air around him shimmers, with a greenish hue; moments later, a wall of what appears to be orange fire sweeps over him.

A girl appears over the brink of a large pile of rubble just in time to witness this affront; her already-pale face lightens even more. "_Hellion!_" she shouts.

"Zdill here." The flames evaporate, and the girl can now see his shape in the smoke. "I kind ob wish somedingk would ged bee. Thiz iz awbul."

She scrambles towards the boy, slipping on rubble and falling, but almost not noticing.

"Do _**NOT **_lower your shield!" she shouts in his face. "For _**ANYTHING!**_"

"I waz juzd kidding, jeez. Oh, waid…I forgod you don'd have a zense ob humor."

"_**DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" **_The girl continues, as if he hasn't spoken.

"Yeah, alrighd, I'b god id. I can wadch by own back…you wadch yours, okay?"

"We cannot stand here any longer." X grabs his wrist and pulls him behind her as she begins to run again.

The ground shakes suddenly, and both figures are thrown to the ground.

"Godammbid!" Hellion shouts, gritting his teeth as he feels the skin being grated off his kneecaps by the concrete. His uniform is ripped all over, and he's covered in minute cuts and bruises and injuries; but _this_ really hurts.

"The strikes are growing more frequent." X says, probably aware of his pain—she is aware of _everything_—but simply not caring. "We need to get underground, _now._"

"And where do we do thad?" Hellion wipes blood away from his nose, which is broken; thankfully the fountain of earlier has stemmed to a few drops here and there.

No, scratch the kneecaps hurting thing. Getting hit in the face by a flying brick had sucked _ass._

"I know of a nuclear fallout bunker," she says, as she scrambles to her feet again. "Not too far from here—about four miles."

"I can fly uz," Hellion offers again.

"No. We cannot risk the attention that would bring. On foot, we stand a chance."

"Fine." He automatically trusts her to know the odds of everything, since she's basically a computer. Struggling to his feet, he runs after her again.

…

"_**HOLY SHID!" **_he yells, as he almost falls off the edge of an enormous crater he hadn't seen coming. He stares in disbelief, at this destroyed part of Manhattan. So destroyed, the ground beneath it is gone. Across the way, the ocean is pouring into the hole.

X is beside him now, gazing across the crater with a tired look. "The bunker may not save us if this happens in that area."

"I figured," he says quietly. He sways slightly, exhausted from all the running, and pain, and wild fear and shock. "Should we juzd give ub?"

"No." Her hand clamps on his aching shoulder as she gives him a direct look. "We need to keep moving," she repeats, but her voice is not as harsh as before. "If we are careful…there is a chance."

"Okayb." He reaches out and takes her hand; they begin to run again. He tries to concentrate on encasing them both in a field of protection, but he has a massive headache from overusing his power. The shield flickers in and out, matching the pulse in his temples. "Thiz iz zo unreal," he murmurs.

X is silent, taking care of the navigation. She can tell that he is running out of energy, as in he will soon be unconscious; they must reach the bunker first, or they are both dead.

She knows they are not too far anymore; about a quarter of a mile.

"Hellion!" she shouts, a few minutes later. He jerks his head up and sees that they are standing in front of a huge mountain of rubble.

"We need to clear the way to the door," she says. In the distance, there is a loud _boom, _and the ground quakes again; rubble skitters down the pile, raising a cloud of dust.

"On id." He sways and collapses against the girl.

"No!" X grabs him by the shoulder again and shakes him, her face full of fear. _**"YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!" **_

"Err—" Hellion raises his head. "X…I'b god nothingk lebd."

"You can rest inside. You _need _to clear our way to the door."

"Okayb."

The boy closes his eyes and does nothing for a moment; X is preparing to begin berating him again when he reaches out to the pile of broken remnants. There is another rumble, but this time it's coming from around them as the bricks and wood and glass shards grate against each other and rise into the air.

The girl starts. "Hellion, I can see the door!" She grabs his wrist and he stumbles after her, towards what they hope will be safety.

They fall to their knees beside the entrance, and he puts all his effort into lifting the exceedingly heavy metal door from its position, flush to the cement around it. After a few moments of mental straining and loud scraping noises, it floats upwards.

"Ged _**IN!**_" he grunts through gritted teeth.

X dives headfirst into the hole; he copies her technique, letting everything go as he falls into darkness, both figuratively and literally.

…

The girl looks around in the dark with her superior night vision; she detects no other life forms inside the bunker, which is enormous. She gets up and crawls to the power panel on the wall; the electricity will need to be conserved, but the boy needs medical attention right now, and she needs proper light to do so. And a first aid kit.

She switches on the lights, and looks around. There is Hellion, lying unconscious on the ground; a crumpled pile of red and black, not all of it on his uniform. Beyond him is the sleeping area; fold-up cots lined in a row. There are blankets and pillows, which is good seeing as it is cooler down here.

Looking the other way, she is presented with a row of shelves, displaying a store of canned and powdered goods. She moves towards this area, favoring her right leg, which—only several hours earlier, had almost not been in existence—and begins to search for the first aid kit she knows will be here, in this well-prepared fallout shelter.

After a few minutes she returns to the boy, a box with a red cross on the lid clutched firmly under her arm. She reaches down, takes a hold of his legs with her hands—one clasped around each ankle—and drags the boy towards the cots. She is wary about moving him in case he has sustained a spinal injury while falling, but she can't leave him under the door, lest it should give way suddenly.

Eventually she manages to maneuver him onto a cot. She opens the box and sets to work.

Halfway through, he awakes and grabs her hand as she moves to re-dampen the cotton ball with alcohol.

"Did we bake id?" he asks in a mumble.

"Yes," X says, her voice flat.

"Good." His eyes close again, and she resumes cleaning his cuts gently. Then, gritting her teeth, she forms a triangle around his nose with her fingers, and begins to push gently but firmly.

_**"AWWWRRRGHHH!" **_Hellion thrashes, then his eyes snap open. _**"WHAD THE HELL?" **_

"I straightened your nose," X says calmly. "It was very crooked."

He glares at her; she roots around in the first aid box, and finds a bottle of Aspirin, then unscrews the lid and punctures the seal with her finger. "Here," she says, handing him three of the tablets. She knows he is in a lot of pain and will likely need the higher dose.

"Iz dere anydink to dringk?"

X looks around the bunker, then heads to the shelves. A moment later, she returns with a can of soda; a Sprite. She reaches him and opens the can with a _spzzt _sound; he sits up slightly, knocks back the pills, then takes the beverage and drinks from it hard and long. The aluminum can makes denting noises.

"I believe this bunker is even safer than I had first estimated," X says. "I have not felt any tremors."

"Baybee dey zdopped addackingk uz," he says, as he finishes drinking.

"No. The destruction is not finished." X looks down. "I can smell Adamantium. I think that the bunker is made of the alloy. It was designed to survive such an event."

"Lucky bor uz," he mumbles. "Iz der any Kleenex?"

She finds a few sheets of tissue in the kit; he takes it, then holds it to his nose and blows, hard. His nose makes a very painful sounding creaking noise, and he groans, but continues his efforts; a few moments later he lowers the now-red Kleenex. "This sucks," he says, in a much clearer voice.

"You sounded vaguely like Gambit," X says.

Hellion grins, then he remembers that the man is probably dead, and the expression of amusement fades.

"So what do we do now?" he asks.

"Wait," X says. "And hope that the door does not give way…or that we are not discovered. We should sleep in shifts."

"Then we won't have any company," he points out.

"I do not need company," X says. "Our survival is of paramount importance."

"I forgot…you're basically Robocop," Hellion grumbles. "Well, wake me up when it's my turn. I'm exhausted."

He soon begins to snore heavily, and X hugs her legs, watching him with half-closed eyes above her kneecaps.


	2. Chapter 2

****__**ANNOUNCEMENT: **_Two new stories-_Like a Boss: Tainted Love_ and _We're in This Together Now, _along with the update wave! Enjoy! :o)_****

_**A/N:** _Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

* * *

><p>Julian dreams.<p>

He is walking down the hallway, in Xavier's school for Higher Learning; Santo and Brian are beside him, and they are having a discussion about girls.

"I think Wallflower's kind of hot now," the big rock golem says in his rumbly voice. "Now that she ain't hiding behind her bangs all the time."

"Dude…smell girl is pathetic," Julian says. "Give me a real woman like—"

"Yeah, Sofia, _we know!_" Brian says. "Let's talk about someone else for a change. Pixie?"

"She's a five year old," Santo says. "How about Rubbermaid?"

"Toothpick," Julian replies. "The Cuckoos are pretty sweet. I want all of them at once."

"Never going to happen," Brian says. "What do you guys think of Network?"

"Lesbian!" Both of the other boys say simultaneously.

"Loa?" Julian suggests.

"Probably Network's girlfriend," Santo comments. "How about Surge?"

"Scrawny bitch," the telekinetic boy summarizes.

"What about that X girl? Wolverine's clone?" Brian asks.

"She's _creepy!_" Santo says. "The hairs on the back of my neck stand up when she's nearby."

"Creepy squared," Julian adds. "But how the hell do your neck hairs stand up? You don't _have _any."

"She's just that creepy," the rock golem offers. "Brrrrrr. No more talk about her! What d'you guys think of Trance?"

"Nah, she's too much of a prude," Brian says. "I asked her the other day about—"

But Julian never hears what his friend had asked Hope Abbott, because at that moment all the glass in the series of windows beside them shatters. The ground beneath their feet lurches, and the boys are sent flying in different directions.

_**"HOLY SHIT!" **_Santo roars, louder than his companions.

"Must be Sentinels!" Brian shouts.

How wrong he is.

**…**

_**"AHHHHG!" **_

The boy's strangled shout wakes X with a start. She peers into the darkness and sees that he is sitting up on the cot, looking around frantically.

"I am here," she says, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

"Am I dead?" he demands.

"No."

"Then why is it dark in here?"

"We need to conserve power, both for when it is necessary, and to avoid detection as much as possible. My night vision is superior."

"How the hell _can_ you make out anything in here? There's no light whatsoever!"

"I am able to detect thermal radiation. Bodies—including mine—glow slightly in the dark due to their heat, and this illuminates the surroundings."

"You are _so_ creepy." Hellion shifts away; she feels a twist in her stomach, and then the momentary, fleeting urge to cut her arm. "Can you turn the lights on?"

X considers denying him this, as he could illuminate his surroundings with his powers. The boy is probably still in too much pain though, so she relents; and a moment later, the lights flicker on.

"Thanks." The boy meets her gaze as she stumbles back toward the cot. She sinks down on the edge of the next bed, and stares into his eyes. The events of the past few days begin to catch up very quickly with both of them.

"I can't believe it," Hellion says numbly, like they have been discussing this aloud.

X remains silent, but her eyes are starting to burn. She looks down, and her face crumples as she thinks of the sheer loss she has just suffered: all of her friends.

"Hey, don't c-cry," the boy says, even though tears are now streaming down his own face. "We m-made it."

"_Why?_" she demands, looking up at him again. "_Why do I always live, _when everyone else dies around me?"

Hellion looks at her blankly for a few minutes as she breathes through her mouth, her face feeling like it's on fire.

"I don't know," he says finally. "I didn't die, though."

"You will. And then—then I'll be _alone._" She hugs her knees against her chest and buries her head against them, her shoulders shaking, but no noises emerging.

Hellion says nothing. After a while he reaches out and pats her shoulder awkwardly, as if afraid she might bite him.

"Don't cry," he repeats firmly. He's trying very hard not to think about what has happened; and in truth, it's not too hard. The shock is so big that he can't process everything at once. He needs time. The past few moments are mostly a release of the bone-numbing fear he had felt, dodging blasts of cremating heat.

X doesn't answer. He begins to let the exhaustion overtake him again; his eyes droop, and after a few minutes of silence, he falls asleep.

**…**

"What's to eat?" Hellion asks, at some point. She thinks this is a new day, but is uncertain.

"Canned goods," X replies, moving towards the shelves. "Do you have a preference?"

"Did you see any Chef Boyardee?" the boy asks.

After a few moments of searching, she returns with three cans full of ravioli, and some spoons she has found. They open these and heat them with a small camping stove she had found earlier on one of the shelves, then dig in with the utensils.

"God," Hellion says, halfway through his share. "I didn't—_mrrf—_realize how hungry I was."

"You consumed a lot of energy. Your resources are probably depleted."

"Feels like." He finishes his share within seconds, and looks at the other can. X is also hungry, and hesitates; they need to conserve their food. She doesn't know how long they will need to be down here, yet. On the other hand—she reasons—he _is_ making up for his recent depletion, and having him at full power may be necessary if they are attacked. She hesitates, then nudges the can over in his direction.

"Thanks." He digs into it with enthusiasm, and she notes that he has pasta sauce smeared all over his face, even a streak leading up to his ears somehow. She smiles slightly, reaches over and wipes it off with her thumb.

Hellion freezes with the fork in his mouth, and gives her a wide-eyed look.

X also stops, uncertain. She hadn't meant to make the movement, nor can she understand what had compelled her to do so. She pulls her hand away, avoiding his eyes. She doesn't want to see that she's done something _wrong. _

He starts eating again, and soon the can is set back down, empty. Hellion looks at the shelves, squints, then reaches out and a can of green beans—along with a box of Twinkies—fly to his fingertips.

"Hellion!" she reproaches.

"What? I'm _hungry!" _he snaps.

"The food is a limited resource."

"So?"

"We do not know how long we will be here." X glares at him. "If you eat all your food in one day—"

"That's tomorrow," he says with a small shrug as he lifts the lid of the green beans with his mind. "I'm hungry _now._"

She feels frustration. If Hellion decides he is going to eat everything, there is little she can do to stop him short of attempting to kill him. He has a clear, strategically advantage; he does not need to be near the food to obtain it.

"Want 'ome?" he asks, his mouth full of beans.

X continues to glare at him.

"Oh, come on." He rolls his eyes and swallows. "You wouldn't even _be_ here if I hadn't blocked that one shot at you. And _that_ took _a lot_ of energy. I could eat a pot of spaghetti if we had one."

"We do not," she says.

"And that's why I'm happy with what we've got here." He takes a few more spoonfuls of beans, then shoves the can in her direction. "I swear, two Twinkies and I'm done."

X wants to keep glaring, but he gives her the same wide-eyed look he'd given her a few moments ago, when she had touched him. There is something amusing about the look; perhaps it is the subject matter. His expression is more suited to a situation where he would be trying to convince her that he is innocent of a serious crime.

She breaks into a small smile. "Okay."

In reality, he eats three Twinkies before allowing her to tear the box away from his fingers. He sighs and leans back against his cot.

"Well, I guess they were right."

X looks at him questioningly as she replaces the box on the shelf of food.

"Two things can survive an apocalypse," he says. "Cockroaches and Twinkies. And us, I guess."

"I have not seen any cockroaches," X replies as she returns. "But you are probably right."

She sits down beside him and hugs her knees. They exist in silence for a while; then Hellion looks at the shelves. "Is there anything in there that could be remotely entertaining?"

X glances at the boy beside her questioningly. "Such as?"

"A playstation," he says, grinning. "But I doubt it. Maybe like a deck of cards?"

"I do not require entertainment," she says.

"But _I_ do," he says. "I'll go crazy just sitting around like this."

"You would be better suited to search for the items," she says.

Hellion sighs, then gets to his feet and limps over to the shelving units, all his muscles still sore from the hours spent running for his life—not to mention the various injuries he had suffered. X tilts her head upwards and watches him move away, her eyes settling on his behind, for reasons unknown. She opens her mouth slightly but says nothing.

"Great," the boy says, a few minutes later. "I found a deck of cards. At least the people who made this place weren't total idiots."

He returns to the area by the cots, and sits down once again.

"So…what card games do you know how to play?" he asks.

X stares at him blankly, as expected.

Hellion sighs; typical. Of _course _it would have to be the clone that he gets trapped with, when it could have been someone like Cessily…or Sofia if she was still there. Or even one—or three—of the Stepford Cuckoos.

But no, he gets X-23. The only good thing about her, in his opinion, is her rack.

He pauses, making a mental connection; then he gives her a patient grin.

"Okay. Let's start with basic poker. Each of us gets five cards. The object of the game is to get the cards with the highest value. Anything with a picture of royalty—or that has an 'A' on it—is a good card to have. There are also 'joker' cards, which can be anything you want."

"The card will change?" X asks.

"No, you just use it in your play and we both pretend it's whatever card you need." He pauses. "Good plays are like having four aces-those are the A-cards—or all the royal suite, or a hand that progresses in number without missing a card. Look, let's start playing, and I can tell you the rest as we go. I'll deal."

"Okay," X says.

"One more thing." Hellion tries to keep his voice nonchalant, so she won't clue in to the fact that he's trying to trick her. "Every time one of us wins a game, the loser has to remove a piece of clothing."

X looks surprised. "Why?" she says.

"Why not?" he counters. "It's incentive. You don't want to be the guy sitting naked when you stop playing, right? 'Coz you get cold fast."

She considers this, then nods slightly, although she still appears wary.

…

Two games have passed, the boy winning the first, and the girl the second. X has removed a wrist bracer, and he himself is missing one glove. They are both seriously studying the cards in their hands, solemn expressions on their faces.

Hellion glances over his fan of cards. "How were you liking the school? You know—before all of _this_ happened."

X glares up at him. "You did not wish to speak to me unless it was strictly necessary while we attended Xavier's. I do not believe you harbor any concerns regarding my education _now._ You are trying to distract me."

"Why would you think that?" he asks, giving her an innocent look. "I just thought I'd try to get to know you better. Since we're going to be spending a lot of time together now."

"Ask me when we are not playing this game," she says firmly.

Hellion grins slightly. So she's sharp enough to know something's up. He's often wondered about how smart she is, or rather, how much she knows about social behavior. She is very intelligent in certain areas, like combat, strategy, and medical knowledge; but in people situations, she is often woefully ignorant of how to fit in.

"Will do," he says. He moves a card in his hand. "By the way…what was your name again? Your _real_ one, I mean."

"All names are real," she says.

"Well, X-23 can't be your only name," Hellion argues.

She pauses. "No. My mother also named me Laura Kinney."

"There we go," he says. "I'm—"

"I know your name," 'Laura' says. "It is Julian. I have heard your friends refer to you as such. Your surname is Keller."

"Well…you're going to be the only friend I'll have, for a while," he says. "You can call me by my real name then."

"Okay." Laura studies her cards intently; he grins again. She is _not_ going to be distracted. He's seen her apply this to other situations, in which her focus had just seemed creepy; kind of like she is autistic. However, judging from the fact that she _does_ respond to his commentary, he is starting to doubt this view.

"I am ready to proceed," she says.

"Okay." Julian pauses, hesitates, then lays his cards down, reasonably confident; he has a full house.

Laura lays down a Royal Flush, and he automatically winces, before he can pretend he's beaten her. She sees this, and leans back expectantly.

"Grr." Julian raises his hand and yanks off his other glove; she seems pleased with herself, and reaches for the cards.

"I will 'deal' this time," she says.

"Are you sure you know how?" he asks.

"Yes. I have watched you…and I know you have been rearranging the deck with your powers every time I appear to be watching my cards."

Julian blinks. "Wha—"

"I can hear the small whining sound your abilities produce, as well as smell that you are lying about something. I am not certain why you would be untruthful in this game. What is the sense of doing this if you do not follow the rules?"

"Uhh," he says. "Okay, I might have cheated a bit. But you're doing so well that I felt pressed to be competitive." He adds a winning smile to this, knowing flattery is the way to get out of _any_ sticky situation.

"If you continue to 'cheat', I will not continue to participate."

"Fine," he says.

She deals the cards.

…

"We have been playing this game for long enough," Laura announces. She is now missing both wrist straps, while Julian is down to his boxers and undershirt. He looks up, alarmed; he hasn't gotten to see her rack yet.

"Just a game more. Come on," he says, figuring that he can demand she take her top off for the next round.

She shakes her head. "We need to conserve energy. I will take the first watch."

"Fine," he grumbles, getting to his feet as she stacks the cards neatly and re-applies the rubber band that had held them together.

He climbs onto his cot, and she moves to the lights; he shudders as she turns them off, and he is cloaked in the darkness once again. It's very unnerving.

"Laura?" he asks, sitting up on the bed.

"I am here." Her voice is coming from near his cot again; he turns to face it.

"Can you sit with me?" he asks in a small voice.

She pauses. "You smell of fear."

"I'm afraid of the dark," he admits, feeling stupid once the words are out. "I feel like something will hurt me."

"There is no one here but you and I," she says. Her voice lacks compassion.

"_Please,_" he whispers.

"I do not think the cot will take both of our weights."

"At least try." He hugs his knees against his chest.

He hears movement in the dark; the cot beside him creaking, a footstep, and then his own cot depresses. It groans slightly with the added weight, but holds; and now the girl is near him. He reaches out gently with his mind, and her face is illuminated by the soft green glow of the energy he emits.

"Thanks," he says.

"You need to sleep," she says firmly.

He sighs, but lays down again, and eventually falls into a fitful sleep.


End file.
